ASHLEY MCLEOD/HOPEWELL NEWS/NEWS-PATRIOT Brian Cobb, managing vice president for information technology operations at Capital One, Rich Fairbank, chariman, CEO, and founder of Capital One and Gov. McAuliffe stand together to officially open the new data center in Meadowville Technology Park

CHESTERFIELD — Gov. Terry McAuliffe came to Chesterfield on Wednesday to join Capital One in celebrating the official opening of a new data center which will continue to create more jobs in the area.

“This is a big moment in Capital One history, and Virginia history,” said Rich Fairbank, founder, chairman, and CEO of Capital One.

The data center in the Meadowville Technology Park, located between Chester and Hopewell, is a very important part of Capital One’s day to day operations. When transactions are made, the retailer sends a request, which is then sent to the data center, which then lets the retailer know if the user has the appropriate amount of funds in their account to make the transaction.

The data center also keeps track of the account history, which is then used to make monthly statements, or to access accounts through online or mobile banking.

Capital One, which is based in McLean, Va., services approximately 65 million customers, and handles millions of transactions a day.

The facility has been open for approximately two months, and became operational within the last few weeks. It is one of three primary data centers operated by Capital One.

The 242,000-square-foot building currently has 50 employees, and is expected to create at least 100 new technical and support roles.

According to Brian Cobb, managing vice president for information technology operations at Capital One, the decision to build this facility was made in 2012, when Virginia beat out North Carolina and Texas as the location. Construction began in July of 2012, and was finished by September of 2013.

“When you think about Capital One, you think about Virginia. You think about 15,000 employees. The eighth largest employer in the commonwealth of Virginia,” said Gov. McAuliffe. “This is the place to be.”

Of the 15,000 Capital One employees in Virginia, more than 11,000 are in the Central Virginia area, according to Fairbank.

“Obviously we are right, really, in the heart of Capital One country here,” said Fairbank.

At the end of the ceremony, Gov. McAuliffe and Fairbanks officially opened the facility not by cutting a ribbon, but by connecting together actual computer cables used at the data center.

The plan for this $150 million data center was announced by former Gov. Bob McDonnell in 2012, following the decision for the center to be built in Chesterfield. The facility has been awarded LEED Gold certification from the US Green Building Council.